CAPCOM

Capcom has announced that the much-awaited Monster Hunter 4 is going stateside “early 2015”. The english-speaking world will get the equivalent of Monster Hunter 4G in Japan — an enhanced version of the vanilla Monster Hunter 4 that has more content. Much like what Monster Hunter 3G was to Monster Hunter 3.

Unlike MH3U before it that had both 3DS and Wii U versions, MH4U is only announced for the 3DS. And I don’t have a problem with that.

This one has online multiplayer (finally!) so the days of meeting up in a coffee house to play are over.

The people at Jasco has put together a 20-minute video playthrough/tutorial of their upcoming Mega Man: The Board Game.

As someone who has some experience on board games like these, I find the mechanics interesting and for one would like to try it. Though it might come of as a bit too complicated for regular people who only play the occasional Monopoly here and there.

If you remember, Capcom announced earlier this year that Breath of Fire VI will be coming to smartphones in an immensely entertaining (in terms of Internet reaction and Schadenfreude) press release. Quite frankly, it seems that the company is going into its post-generation cyclical “scumbag mode,” which we’ve seen several times in the past; in just the past two years Capcom has angered and alienated its own fanbase by way of:

Cancelling the much-anticipated Mega Man Legends 3

Also cancelling any future Darkstalkers games because the HD remakes did not sell

Releasing a half-baked mainline Resident Evil title and tarnishing the series’ remaining goodwill

And now, it appears that Capcom won’t be winning any of these fans back as the company has announced plans to invest into the mobile scene (an arena where they previously dabbled with using outsourced developers) by opening a new mobile-centric studio in Osaka to the tune of 4 billion Yen. Capcom has gone as far to say that the profits used to fund this venture came from excellent sales of their latest Monster Hunter title, and that it’ll bring the company a much-needed financial shot in the arm.

Announced during Japan’s recently concluded Monster Hunter Direct Presentation, Capcom and Nintendo announced that players will be able to outfit themselves with the equipment of the one and only (not really) Hero of Hyrule in the upcoming Monster Hunter 4 for the 3DS.

The iconic green tunic, as well as the Master Sword and a Hylian Shield will be equippable by blademasters while Link’s bow will be the weapon for gunners. The set will be available via download so let me have a sigh of relief knowing that I wouldn’t need to hunt 100 Ganons just so his rare tescticle component will drop (though that sounds strangely fun).

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It was also announced during the presentation that your Felyne companions will have access to Mario and Luigi costumes.

Monster Hunter 4 will be released in Japan on September 14. No announcement of a western release yet, but at this point they better! Or I’m gonna cry.

Keiji Inafune, co-creator of Mega Man, launched a Kickstarter campaign for Mighty No. 9. It’s basically Inafune’s “fuck you” to Capcom for not letting him make more Mega Man games (they cancelled Mega Man Universe and that forced him to leave Capcom).

For all intents and purposes, this is a new Mega Man with a different name because Inafune does not have the rights to his own work. They are trying to raise $900,000 to make the project a reality. It is being developed for the PC but includes stretch goals for release on other platforms which is a “high priority”. As of time of writing, the Kickstarter page has amassed $209,000.

From the Kickstarter Page:

“Mighty No. 9 is an all-new Japanese side-scrolling action game that takes the best aspects of the 8- and 16-bit era classics you know and love, and transforms them with modern tech, fresh mechanics, and fan input into something fresh and amazing!

You play as Beck, the 9th in a line of powerful robots, and the only one not infected by a mysterious computer virus that has caused mechanized creatures the world over to go berserk. Run, jump, blast, and transform your way through six stages (or more, via stretch goals) you can tackle in any order you choose, using weapons and abilities stolen from your enemies to take down your fellow Mighty Number robots and confront the final evil that threatens the planet!”

Want to be a backer (you should)? Head to the source link for Mighty No. 9‘s Kickstarter page.

According to Capcom product manager Matt Dahlgren in an interview with Siliconera at the SDCC, there will be no new Darksltalkers game for the forseeable future. The beloved fighting franchise will be on indefinite cryo suspension because of poor sales of the HD remake Darkstalkers Resurrection.

“Darkstalkers Resurrection did not perform as well as we would have liked to perform,” Dahlgren said with an SMH. “There is nothing Darkstalkers on the immediate horizon for sure,” he followed.

Capcom just announced in the San Diego Comic Convention the return of their elite ninja agent Strider Hiryu in a brand new Strider game in development for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and next generation consoles Playstation 4 and Xbox One (still no love for the Wii U here I see) and is scheduled for release in 2014.

Like most modern-day renditions of classic games, Strider stays true to its roots and promises you the same old fast-paced and fluid action the original Strider games were known for before Strider Hiryu became a jobber in Capcom’s cross over fighting games. Check out the first trailer below:

Strider is being developed by Double Helix Games in conjunction with Capcom and is scheduled for digital release in early 2014.

Super Street Fighter 4 added new characters to vanilla SF4, then SSF4: Arcade Edtion added some tweaks and a couple more characters, and now they announced a new update officially named Ultra Street Fighter 4.

Great (lol).

Anyways, this new update will add new stages and 5 new characters to the mix. The people from Metro City; Poison, Hugo, Elena, and Rolento will be joining the gang, freshly copy-pasted from the travesty that was Street Fighter X Tekken. The fifth character is still a secret though, and Capcom says it’s “a character who has not appeared on a Street Fighter game ever”. With the Final Fight theme of the new characters, I’m betting it’s Mayor Haggar.

USF4 will also include balancing changes stemmed from fan feedback. I suppose that’s a good thing, eh?

Ultra Street Fighter 4 will be available “Early 2014” for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It’s $15 to update to it if you already have SSF4, and $40 to get a standalone copy.

Feenie and friends are back it seems, after quite a long hiatus—the last time Capcom released anything relevant in the series was 2010’s Ace Attorney: Investigations. Sure, Shu Takumi’s own Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective came out to fill the void, but apart from some half-hearted remakes on the Wii and iOS, the world has (criminally?) been without everyone’s favorite portable adventure game/source of creepy slash fiction.

I got to play a few minutes of Phoenix Wright’s brand-new adventure (subtitled Dual Destinies) demo over at Capcom’s E3 booth a few weeks ago and came away impressed. I had my apprehensions at first; primarily because the game was now using polygonal models rather than sprites to represent each character—which I thought would lead to less-expressive and less-charming character expressions, a series high point. As I sat down and played through the short case, those fears were quickly alleviated: Dual Destinies definitely captures the game’s signature charm. Though there are still limited amounts of animation per character (a blink of an eye here, some dialogue animation and maybe a pratfall somewhere in between), the cel-shaded visuals looked very smooth whether or not the system’s 3D slider was cranked up.

Set a year after the events of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, the demo sees Phoenix back in the defense attorney’s seat after rebuilding his practice and regaining his lawyer-ship. The case starts off right after an explosion rocks the courthouse: a bomb concealed within a stuffed elephant kept as a piece of evidence rips through the courtroom mid-trial, leading to the case Phoenix somehow manages to get involved in.

Apart from Phoenix and his trademark wacky coif, you should see a few familiar faces in Dual Destinies. Apollo Justice returns with a badass new look as Capcom quietly retcons him out of importance, Prosecutor Payne was also sighted during the demo; and of course the Judge is back to serve us with the power of the beard. No sight of Maya or Trucy but rookie defense attorney Athena Cykes fills in the shoes of Phoenix’ partner/jailbait eye-candy that they find a way to cop-out of a romantic interest at the last minute.

Jailbait alert. Help….

The demo itself was fairly straightforward if you’ve played any of the other games in the series—you get to leaf through evidence, point out inconsistencies in witness’ testimony and call out objections, all to prove the innocence of one Juniper Woods—Athena’s childhood friend and witness in that last case—who through some happenstance has managed to get her fingerprints all over the stuffed elephant/bomb. Fairly damning evidence for any other attorney, but somehow ol’ Feenie manages to save the day like he always does.

Capcom will be releasing Dual Destinies exclusively on the eShop, which is a smart move in many ways—not only are they cutting out the middle-man of retail and ensuring such a niche title actually gets published in the first place, but since it’s such a linear game they’re also preventing people from turning around and selling the game once they’re done with it.

To go along with this impressions post, Capcom PR’s sent us a slough of PWAA: DD screenshots for your viewing pleasure! Check out the gallery after the break.

While it would have made more sense to run this promotion before or during the month of Remember Me’s release, I guess its better late than never. Capcom and Remember Me‘s music composer Olivier Deriviere are giving music composers/arrangers both professional or amateur a chance to show off their remixing skills and win cool prizes as follows:

An exclusive Remember Me vinyl LP with custom made sleeve and the winning track

A game console of your choice (Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3)

The official Remember Me artbook

A copy of Remember Me, signed by the developers

Assorted Remember Me merchandise

You can probably sync the tempo of your remix to Nilin’s bad-ass moves in the game.

Now before anyone jumps for joy, sadly, this contest is only open for residents of the United States, Canada, European Union, Australia, and New Zealand. So you can’t win all that cool swag and that soon-to-be last gen console but what we have here is a genuine opportunity to remix a track from a game with the blessings of the composer. There are some rules and parameters on what you can use for your remix of the track “Fragments” you can download all the files here and read up on all the mechanics here. Not like it matters but should you want to enter this contest for the lulz, I’d love to hear your remixes too so hit us up if anybody actually joins the remix contest.

You can listen to the official song of the contest from the soundcloud widget or whatever below. I like the game’s music and you probably would too if electronic music is your thing.

For more insights on the game Remember Me, you can hit up my review of the game last month.

Incubus was a painter making a lot of cash selling his “Obscene Dream” artworks. As time goes on, he feared of losing his popularity when people will be fed up with his “masterpieces”, so he thought that what he needs is a more accurate, personal approach. After all his art is a reflection of his own personal, actual “obscene dreams”. Desperate, he made the great sacrifice and his body turned into an actual, living canvas.

Leprechaun is born from triplets, the sons of a well-known shoemaker. Growing up and working in the family business, they realized that the best shoes are made from material that comes from the most intelligent, sentient animal on the planet… and that “animal” is man. Seeking to be the SOLE successor to their father, they decided to kill two birds with one stone; getting the “man-made material” and destroying the competition… by sacrificing each other.

It seems like Soul Sacrifice will file these two new Archfiends under “The Desperate”. Incubus and Leprechaun went completely under my radar for some reason, as this is the sixth wave of free DLC and was released June 20th in Japan. They should eventually find its way to the English version soon.

Only one more Archfiend left to round up the thirteen pitiful monsters, and one can only guess based on the silhouette that it is a Dullahan re-skin. Regardless, I can’t wait for another month!

Not much on the retail side this week, I’m afraid. The one notable game this week is the Capcom arcade brawler Dungeons and Dragons: Chronicles of Mystara (PSN, XBLA, Wii U eShop). I will certainly buy it when the PS Store updates tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my youngest brother’s birthday and CAPCOM’s 30th anniversary! Well, what do you know, the company is almost the same age as me! To commemorate this momentous occasion, the folks at CAPCOM will be unveiling a newly-formatted website which will have exciting content in the next few days. The new website will also let fans send messages to the company (which is always good in my book) and messages from CAPCOM’s top management (taking from Nintendo’s book?) will be published in the portal. The history of company will also be highlighted to celebrate its 30 illustrious years in the industry.

If you are in Japan, now’s the best time to visit the “Huis Ten Bosch” theme park in Nagasaki as there will be an exhibition featuring CAPCOM stuff and if you’re more of a video arcade person, there will also events in CAPCOM arcades all over the country.

To kick off the anniversary, the CAPCOM Arcade Cabinet downloadable games set were made available before and more commemorative games will be announced in the near future. Rockman stuff, please!

From a live Niconico event, Monster Hunter 4 producer Ryozo Tsujimoto explains the new mechanics of the game — focusing on one of the new weapons: The Charge Axe.

It is explained that the Charge Axe has two modes: the default mode is the “Ken Mode” which is basically like the regular sword and shield weapon from the previous games. Hitting enemies on this mode charges a meter and is then used to power the “Ono Mode”. Switching to this mode, the hunter combines the sword and shield to create a huge axe that additionally inflicts elemental damage. Also notice that the blood splatter effects in the game looks badass.

Also in the video, they fight a new large beetle monster called “Tetsukabura”. Tsujimoto then did the maneuver in which he leaped on the back of the monster and stabbed it repeatedly ala Shadow of the Colossus. He said that in order to do this you must jump from an elevated ledge to the back of the (preferably) stunned monster. In this case they used a shock trap.

Monster Hunter 4 has a September 14 2013 release date in Japan. No news on a western release but if it doesn’t get one, It’s because you did not buy MH3U and I hate you for makin me cry.

[Author’s Note]: I don’t know how to speak or write japanese. I just annoyed my girlfriend into translating some of the important points in the video. I won’t be able to do this again for some time.

Monster Hunter 4 sure has a lot of themed merchandise doesn’t it? Popular video game accessory designer and manufacturer HORI, known for making custom-themed controllers and joysticks as well as screen protectors has just made 2 additional attachments for both your 3DS and 3DS LL!

For the 3DS, we have a crimson Rioreus/Rathalos Red while the 3DS LL gets the Gore Magara Black (or purple). Each grip includes a small black strap/lace (they’re the same). The Rioreus/Rathalos Red costs 1780 Yen while the Gore Magara Black is more expensive at 1980 Yen.

Refusing to be outdone by Rockman/Megaman, Monhan 4 gets its own accessories set, also for both 3DS and 3DS LL. They each contain a specially colored strap (red for Rioreus/Rathalos and Purple for Goe Magara), including an illustration of the monster it represents in a nifty dangling attachment. It also boasts a card case, colored accordingly, a set of seals (stickers) and of course, the protective casing with art featuring the participating monster its color represents.

The Rioreus/Rathalos Red for 3DS retails for 1980 Yen, and once again, the Gore Magara for 3DS LL is costlier at 2180 Yen.

All these accessories will be on sale simultaneously with Monhan 4 at September 14th.

My colleagues here in 30lives has informed me that in the US it’s gonna be digital, so this comes as a surprise for me, until I read the contents of the limited edition itself. It contains some items that can only be found in Japanese gaming merchandise culture.

Let me list them down for the get-go:

The game in PS3 format

2 Soundtrack CDs

1 download code for a special D&D PS3 theme

1 “Gemestomook” (90’s arcade game magazine-book) of the game

1 “Secret File” (another small book)

1 Clear File (a plastic folder/case)

2 Rubber Coasters for your drinks

1 Customized limited edition box

The “Gemesutomook” (portmanteau Game + Mest + Magazine + Book) was actually a popular game guide format in the 90’s that usually tackles topics on arcade games, until the company that made them went bankrupt and shut down. Shadow Over Mystara is a 90’s game, so I can see that Capcom wants to relive a genuine experience by taking gamers back to that particular era. Author’s Note: Thanx again to my friend Billeh Itagaki for this info!

Japanese also love having books in the form of “secret files” or dossiers. Although this is not exactly exclusive to them, the West also has popular companion reading material of their own, except that the Japanese love calling theirs “files”. Speaking of files, “clear files” are actually plastic folders/casings, usually with watermark designs containing characters of any popular media. Square-Enix is notorious for selling merchandise like these, obviously for Final Fantasy. After all, people will almost buy ANYTHING as long as it has Final Fantasy stamped on it.

The coasters don’t offer much. In my opinion any non-D&D fan or those who didn’t play Shadow Over Mystara would probably not recognize the characters (heck, I don’t).

Then again, the point is YOU know them, and YOU’RE using it, so it doesn’t matter what other people think. I just wish they had better designs though, but it’s just me.

Dungeons & Dragons: Shadow Over Mystara comes out August 22nd in Japan and retails for 3990 Yen. The normal edition is a whopping 12000 Yen and will be exclusively available only on the E-Capcom online store.

Yesterday we got bombarded by Monster Hunter underwear, but today Capcom drops an even bigger bomb: the limited edition series of Monster Hunter 4. There are actually 3 kinds: the Figure Set, the 2-Way Case Set and the Complete Set. Although why they just make it simple and release only a complete set is beyond me, but let’s sort them out.

Monster Hunter 4 Figure Set (8990 Yen): Game + Action Figure

The figure is a fully movable/poseable Blademaster in Reus/Rathalos Armor Set. Contains the following:

1 Posing Stand

3 Texture Sheets (so you get to choose what kind of floor he’s standing on)

The Gore Magara is actually a new monster to be introduced in Monhan 4. You haven’t even gotten a chance to kill the poor thing yourself and already its skinned dead body is turned into materials and crafted into a real-life item! It’s meant to display its scales, skin AND feathers all in one casing, with dimensions of 20 x 11 x 4.

It’s snug enough to be attached to belts and will hold cellphones, wallets, condoms… anything that fits in it. I guess a 3DS is out of the question.

This is known as THE ONLY SET YOU SHOULD BOTHER BUYING. It has everything from the first 2 sets: the action figure, casing and game, but also comes with a Skinned Gore Magara Long Strap. It seems like Capcom really wants you to kill Gore Magaras THAT BADLY.

The Long Strap is actually a cellphone charm or lace, made from the, you know… hide of a Gore Magara. It gave up its life and very existence just so you can selfishly pimp out your stupid gadget, so you had better use it and not make its death in vain.

The Long Strap comes with an even smaller strap that doubles as a CLEANER on its opposite side. It also contains the messages “looking for party” and “I’m hunting solo”. Creative and clever, I guess your mood will depend on what mini-strap you intend to attach to your… attachment.

Also, if you buy any Monhan 4 merchandise in the E-Capcom shop, you will actually earn more points than normal, but this offer is good until Sept. 13th only. That’s about it for now. Remember that Monhan 4 will be on stores Sept. 14th, so make those pre-orders now. Bug a friend who lives in Japan or whatever, or wait for it and buy these items in outrageous prices in Yahoo Japan Auctions. The choice is yours. Happy hunting you cruel, heartless Gore Magara-hating psychos.